Trump misspells strait as he suggests China and Japan should protect their own ships in Middle Eastern shipping lanes
Secretary of state and Trump ally Lindsey Graham appear to disagree
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has suggested that countries such as China and Japan “should be protecting their own ships” in the Strait of Hormuz, misspelled as “straight” in the president’s early morning tweets on the matter.
“China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation,” he wrote.
“All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been a dangerous journey,” the tweets continued. “We don’t even need to be there in that the US has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world!”
The president was immediately contradicted by secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Republican senator Lindsey Graham.
“Mr President, you are right: our allies and stakeholders in the Straits of Hormuz should do more,” wrote senator Graham in his own tweet. “However, safe navigation of sea lanes -- vital to a world economy -- is always in America’s national security interest.”
“Protecting sea lanes is best achieved by partnerships where all the stakeholders contribute and sacrifice for peaceful navigation of the seas,” Mr Graham continued. “Peace and economic prosperity are best achieved when bad actors are dealt with through international coalitions.”
In a tweet accompanying a photo from a meeting in Saudi Arabia with the Saudi king and crown prince, Mr Pompeo also stressed the US’s role in the Strait.
“Productive meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud today to discuss heightened tensions in the region and the need to promote maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz,” the secretary of state wrote. “Freedom of navigation is paramount.”
The tweets came just after the president announced new sanctions for Iran, following a Thursday night decision by the commander in chief to call, and then immediately call off, a strike against the country after, according to tweets sent the following morning, he was told that 150 people would die as a result.
The president said on Monday that the new sanctions “will deny the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Leader’s office and those closely affiliated with him and the office access to key financial resources”.
In line with the Trump administration’s most repeated cause for military action with Iran, the president added in his Monday tweets regarding the Strait of Hormuz: “The US request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!”
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